# Athletics at the 1978 Commonwealth Games

At the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A total of 38 events were contested, 23 for men and 15 for women.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +7.6 m/s) details | Don Quarrie (JAM) | 10.03 w | Allan Wells (SCO) | 10.07 w | Hasely Crawford (TRI) | 10.09 w |
| 200 metres (wind: +4.4 m/s) details | Allan Wells (SCO) | 20.12 w | James Gilkes (GUY) | 20.18 w | Colin Bradford (JAM) | 20.43 w |
| 400 metres details | Rick Mitchell (AUS) | 46.34 | Joseph Coombs (TRI) | 46.54 | Glenn Bogue (CAN) | 46.63 |
| 800 metres details | Mike Boit (KEN) | 1:46.39 | Seymour Newman (JAM) | 1:47.30 | Peter Lemashon (KEN) | 1:47.57 |
| 1500 metres details | David Moorcroft (ENG) | 3:35.48 | Filbert Bayi (TAN) | 3:35.59 | John Robson (SCO) | 3:35.60 |
| 5000 metres details | Henry Rono (KEN) | 13:23.04 | Mike Musyoki (KEN) | 13:29.92 | Brendan Foster (ENG) | 13:31.35 |
| 10,000 metres details | Brendan Foster (ENG) | 28:13.65 | Mike Musyoki (KEN) | 28:19.14 | Mike McLeod (ENG) | 28:34.30 |
| Marathon details | Gidamis Shahanga (TAN) | 2:15:40 | Jerome Drayton (CAN) | 2:16:14 | Paul Bannon (CAN) | 2:16:52 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Henry Rono (KEN) | 8:26.54 | James Munyala (KEN) | 8:32.21 | Kip Rono (KEN) | 8:34.07 |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +6.2 m/s) details | Berwyn Price (WAL) | 13.70 w | Max Binnington (AUS) | 13.73 w | Warren Parr (AUS) | 13.73 w |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Daniel Kimaiyo (KEN) | 49.48 | Garry Brown (AUS) | 50.04 | Alan Pascoe (ENG) | 50.09 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Scotland Allan Wells David Jenkins Cameron Sharp Drew McMaster | 39.24 | Trinidad and Tobago Edwin Noel Hasely Crawford Christopher Brathwaite Ephraim Serrette | 39.29 | Jamaica Errol Quarrie Colin Bradford Oliver Heywood Floyd Brown | 39.33 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | Kenya Washington Njiri Daniel Kimaiyo Bill Koskei Joel Ngetich | 3:03.54 | Jamaica Clive Barriffe Bertland Cameron Colin Bradford Floyd Brown Seymour Newman* | 3:04.00 | Australia John Higham Chum Darvall Garry Brown Rick Mitchell | 3:04.23 |
| 30 kilometres walk details | Olly Flynn (ENG) | 2:22:04 | Willi Sawall (AUS) | 2:22:59 | Tim Erickson (AUS) | 2:26:34 |
| High jump details | Claude Ferragne (CAN) | 2.20 m | Greg Joy (CAN) | 2.18 m | Dean Bauck (CAN) Brian Burgess (SCO) | 2.15 m |
| Pole vault details | Bruce Simpson (CAN) | 5.10 m | Don Baird (AUS) | 5.10 m | Brian Hooper (ENG) | 5.00 m |
| Long jump details | Roy Mitchell (ENG) | 8.06 m (w) | Chris Commons (AUS) | 8.04 m (w) | Suresh Babu (IND) | 7.94 m (w) |
| Triple jump details | Keith Connor (ENG) | 17.21 m (w) | Ian Campbell (AUS) | 16.93 m (w) | Aston Moore (ENG) | 16.69 m |
| Shot put details | Geoff Capes (ENG) | 19.77 m | Bruno Pauletto (CAN) | 19.33 m | Bishop Dolegiewicz (CAN) | 18.45 m |
| Discus throw details | Borys Chambul (CAN) | 59.70 m | Brad Cooper (BAH) | 57.30 m | Rob Gray (CAN) | 55.48 m |
| Hammer throw details | Peter Farmer (AUS) | 71.10 m | Scott Neilson (CAN) | 69.92 m | Chris Black (SCO) | 68.14 m |
| Javelin throw details | Phil Olsen (CAN) | 84.00 m | Mike O'Rourke (NZL) | 83.18 m | Peter Yates (ENG) | 78.58 m |
| Decathlon details | Daley Thompson (ENG) | 8467 pts | Peter Hadfield (AUS) | 7623 pts | Alan Drayton (ENG) | 7484 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +2.9 m/s) details | Sonia Lannaman (ENG) | 11.27 w | Raelene Boyle (AUS) | 11.35 w | Denise Boyd (AUS) | 11.37 w |
| 200 metres (wind: +5.1 m/s) details | Denise Boyd (AUS) | 22.82 w | Sonia Lannaman (ENG) | 22.89 w | Colleen Beazley (AUS) | 22.93 w |
| 400 metres details | Donna Hartley (ENG) | 51.69 | Verona Elder (ENG) | 52.94 | Bethanie Nail (AUS) | 53.06 |
| 800 metres details | Judy Peckham (AUS) | 2:02.82 | Tekla Chemabwai (KEN) | 2:02.87 | Jane Colebrook (ENG) | 2:03.10 |
| 1500 metres details | Mary Stewart (ENG) | 4:06.34 GR | Chris Benning (ENG) | 4:07.53 | Penny Werthner (CAN) | 4:08.14 |
| 3000 metres details | Paula Fudge (ENG) | 9:12.95 | Heather Thomson (NZL) | 9:20.69 | Ann Ford (ENG) | 9:24.05 |
| 100 metres hurdles (wind: +3.6 m/s) details | Lorna Boothe (ENG) | 12.98w | Shirley Strong (ENG) | 13.08w | Sharon Colyear (ENG) | 13.17w |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | England Beverley Goddard Kathy Smallwood Sharon Colyear Sonia Lannaman | 43.70 | Canada Angela Bailey Margaret Howe Marjorie Bailey Patty Loverock | 44.26 | Australia Colleen Beazley Denise Boyd Lyn Jacenko Roxanne Gelle | 44.78 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | England Ruth Kennedy Joslyn Hoyte Verona Elder Donna Hartley | 3:27.19 GR | Australia Bethanie Nail Denise Boyd Maxine Corcoran Judy Peckham | 3:28.65 | Canada Anne Mackie-Morelli Debbie Campbell Margaret Stride Rachelle Campbell | 3:35.83 |
| High jump details | Katrina Gibbs (AUS) | 1.93 m GR | Debbie Brill (CAN) | 1.90 m | Julie White (CAN) | 1.83 m |
| Long jump details | Sue Reeve (ENG) | 6.59 m | Erica Hooker (AUS) | 6.58 m | June Griffith (GUY) | 6.52 m |
| Shot put details | Gael Mulhall (AUS) | 17.31 m | Carmen Ionesco (CAN) | 16.45 m | Judy Oakes (ENG) | 16.14 m |
| Discus throw details | Carmen Ionesco (CAN) | 62.16 m | Gael Mulhall (AUS) | 57.60 m | Lucette Moreau (CAN) | 56.64 m |
| Javelin throw details | Tessa Sanderson (ENG) | 61.34 m | Alison Hayward (CAN) | 54.52 m | Laurie Kern (CAN) | 53.60 m |
| Pentathlon details | Diane Konihowski (CAN) | 4768 pts GR | Sue Mapstone (ENG) | 4222 pts | Yvette Wray (ENG) | 4211 pts |

## Medal table

* Host nation (Canada)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | England (ENG) | 16 | 5 | 12 | 33 |
| 2 | Australia (AUS) | 6 | 11 | 7 | 24 |
| 3 | Canada (CAN)* | 6 | 8 | 10 | 24 |
| 4 | Kenya (KEN) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Scotland (SCO) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Jamaica (JAM) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | Tanzania (TAN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Wales (WAL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Guyana (GUY) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Bahamas (BAH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | India (IND) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (13 entries) | Totals (13 entries) | 38 | 38 | 39 | 115 |

## Participating nations

* Antigua and Barbuda (5)
* Australia (44)
* Bahamas (6)
* Bangladesh (1)
* Barbados (6)
* Belize (1)
* Bermuda (19)
* Canada (78)
* Cayman Islands (2)
* Cyprus (1)
* England (87)
* Gambia (10)
* Ghana (16)
* Gibraltar (3)
* Grenada (2)
* Guyana (3)
* India (9)
* Isle of Man (6)
* Jamaica (20)
* Jersey (1)
* Kenya (45)
* Lesotho (8)
* Malaysia (5)
* Mauritius (5)
* New Zealand (28)
* Northern Ireland (13)
* Saint Kitts and Nevis (2)
* Saint Lucia (6)
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (4)
* Scotland (25)
* Sierra Leone (3)
* Singapore (1)
* Sri Lanka (1)
* Swaziland (1)
* Tanzania (16)
* Trinidad and Tobago (12)
* Turks and Caicos Islands (5)
* Wales (16)
* Zambia (4)